Korean Grilled Short Ribs (Kalbi)

This recipe is the most authentic lettuce wrap* that I know – Korean grilled short ribs, or Kalbi.*Lettuce wraps have become one of my favorite ways to sneak some extra vegetables into my diet. We serve them like we do “taco night” – everything goes on the table, and people assemble their own wraps. Of course, the kids won’t touch the lettuce, so they just grab the rest of the components of the meal.

This is authentic, easy to make, and quick to cook. All the ingredients are available at your local grocery store. Sounds too good to be true, right? The hard part is finding the ribs cut this way. Check out your local Asian market, or ask your butcher to cut some short ribs very thin – 1/4″ thick is what you want, but 1/2″ thick is OK.

Directions:1. Marinate ribs: In a food processor or blender, pulse the garlic and scallion until finely minced. Add the pear, and pulse again until finely minced. Add the rest of the marinade ingredients, and run until well combined. Toss the ribs and the marinade (I do this in a gallon ziploc bag), and store in the refrigerator for 2-4 hours, turning occasionally to marinate evenly.

2. Prep grill: Preheat grill for direct cooking over medium heat. Clean grate with a grill brush, and brush the grate with a paper towel dipped in vegetable oil.

Gas grill: Preheat on high, clean grates, then turn heat down to medium.

Charcoal grill: Light coals, wait until covered with gray ash. Then, spread in a single layer of coals over the charcoal grate.

3. Cook ribs: Remove ribs from marinade, and cook over the direct-medium heat for 2-4 minutes per side, or until well browned on both sides. Remove ribs to a plate and let rest 5-10 minutes before serving.

Grilling the short ribs

Notes:

*On my gas grill, I cook in a 2-2-flip-2-2 pattern; cook 2 minutes, turn the ribs 90*, cook another 2 minutes; flip the ribs, 2 more minutes, turn 90*, final 2 minutes. This gives you a nice diamond pattern on the ribs.

*Watch the ribs carefully – the marinade has a lot of sugar in it, and will burn if left over too hot of a fire.

*Serving: To serve as lettuce wraps, use a head of Boston bibb lettuce, leaves separated and rinsed. I usually serve it with a vegetable stir fry, jasmine rice, and, even though they’re not really Korean, some hoisin sauce and Sriracha hot sauce.

*To be really authentic, you’d serve this with Kimchi, Korean pickled fermented cabbage, but that can be a acquired taste.*

*Because of the quick cooking time of this thin cut of meat, it makes an excellent weeknight dinner. If you’re in a hurry, skip the pear and just whisk the rest of the marinade ingredients; then let the meat marinate for as long as you can. I’ve done this recipe this way, and only marinated the meat for the 15-20 minutes it took for the grill to heat up. It’s not quite the experience of the long-marinated meat, but does make a tasty, quick asian meal when you’re in a hurry.

*Enjoyed this post? Want to help out DadCooksDinner? Subscribe to DadCooksDinner using the RSS or Email options on the right, link to this post from your blog, recommend DadCooksDinner to your friends, or buy something from Amazon.com through the links on this site. Thank you!

*Tip: Gochujang is unique to Korea. If you can’t buy it inan Asian or Korean super market use sriracha or tabasco sauce or if you canfind Korean fine ground red chilies you can make your own but it needs toferment in sun for 3 months. A very unique taste and heat not duplicated in USor outside Korea.